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It's beyond a joke. Recently spent some time at an accelerator and the partners of the VC firm were very open about purchasing "fake" research or presenting in

It's beyond a joke. Recently spent some time at an accelerator and the partners of the VC firm were very open about purchasing "fake" research or presenting investments as if they were from more than one "investor". I still fail to understand how Dwarkesh Patel managed to "self-sponsor" an O-1 with a... tech podcast...

crowcroft 1y ago
Podcasts are a very significant medium, and Dwarkesh is probably comfortably in the top 1% of podcasts. Isn't that exactly what O-1 is for?
- mertleee 1y ago
  At the time he barely had 10k subscribers. The merits of the "genius" VISA should be for research and engineering endeavors.
  - crowcroft 1y ago
    O-1 isn't a genius visa, it is for [1] Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement, the government website specifically calls out categories that are not research or engineering. [1] https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-workers/o-1-visa-individuals-with-extraordinary-ability-or-achievement https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary...
    - mertleee 1y ago
      The jokes really do write themselves "Extraordinary Podcasting Ability". Would much rather that visa had gone to a researcher or engineer who's motto wasn't "not wanting to push pixels around at a FAANG".
      - tim333 1y ago
        Why not both? I can see the argument for not having millions of unskilled immigrants crossing from Mexico but both Dwarkesh and the researcher/engineer would benefit the US. I don't think it's that hard to get O1 as a researcher/engineer - you basically have to get to the level where you present at conferences and are seen as an expert in whatever.
  - antonvs 1y ago
    Melania Trump got an EB-1 visa as a model. That’s the permanent resident version of the O-1, which is temporary.
  - tim333 1y ago
    In practice they want people of high ability who will contribute positively to the US, not necessarily geniuses. My friend who was supporting actress in some Netflix thing got in on that basis.
  - duped 1y ago
    Do you honestly think it's a good idea to make it harder to get a visa in this country? Particularly one that's based on merit/markets?
- eitally 1y ago
  I don't think so, personally, because I see that podcast as entertainment rather than education, and I don't think entertainers should ever receive O-1 visas.
  - jltsiren 1y ago
    Legislators thought otherwise, when they explicitly created two subcategories of O-1 visas: * O-1A: Individuals with an extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business, or athletics (not including the arts, motion pictures or television industry). * O-1B: Individuals with an extraordinary ability in the arts or extraordinary achievement in motion picture or television industry. The reason is pretty simple. Entertainment industry depends more on specific individuals than most other industries. If you have cast a foreign actor for a role, you can't easily replace them with generic interchangeable talent. But that foreign actor is not magically allowed to work in the US. They need a visa that allows it. Hence O-1B.
asadm 1y ago
i did o1 twice and then eb1. it’s not a joke if you set expectations too high in your mind. all visas are just about fulfilling the legal criteria. if you do that, you get the visa. same is true for extraordinary alien ones.

crowcroft 1y ago

Podcasts are a very significant medium, and Dwarkesh is probably comfortably in the top 1% of podcasts. Isn't that exactly what O-1 is for?

mertleee 1y ago
At the time he barely had 10k subscribers. The merits of the "genius" VISA should be for research and engineering endeavors.
- crowcroft 1y ago
  O-1 isn't a genius visa, it is for [1] Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement, the government website specifically calls out categories that are not research or engineering. [1] https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-workers/o-1-visa-individuals-with-extraordinary-ability-or-achievement https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary...
  - mertleee 1y ago
    The jokes really do write themselves "Extraordinary Podcasting Ability". Would much rather that visa had gone to a researcher or engineer who's motto wasn't "not wanting to push pixels around at a FAANG".
    - tim333 1y ago
      Why not both? I can see the argument for not having millions of unskilled immigrants crossing from Mexico but both Dwarkesh and the researcher/engineer would benefit the US. I don't think it's that hard to get O1 as a researcher/engineer - you basically have to get to the level where you present at conferences and are seen as an expert in whatever.
- antonvs 1y ago
  Melania Trump got an EB-1 visa as a model. That’s the permanent resident version of the O-1, which is temporary.
- tim333 1y ago
  In practice they want people of high ability who will contribute positively to the US, not necessarily geniuses. My friend who was supporting actress in some Netflix thing got in on that basis.
- duped 1y ago
  Do you honestly think it's a good idea to make it harder to get a visa in this country? Particularly one that's based on merit/markets?
eitally 1y ago
I don't think so, personally, because I see that podcast as entertainment rather than education, and I don't think entertainers should ever receive O-1 visas.
- jltsiren 1y ago
  Legislators thought otherwise, when they explicitly created two subcategories of O-1 visas: * O-1A: Individuals with an extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business, or athletics (not including the arts, motion pictures or television industry). * O-1B: Individuals with an extraordinary ability in the arts or extraordinary achievement in motion picture or television industry. The reason is pretty simple. Entertainment industry depends more on specific individuals than most other industries. If you have cast a foreign actor for a role, you can't easily replace them with generic interchangeable talent. But that foreign actor is not magically allowed to work in the US. They need a visa that allows it. Hence O-1B.

asadm 1y ago

i did o1 twice and then eb1. it’s not a joke if you set expectations too high in your mind. all visas are just about fulfilling the legal criteria. if you do that, you get the visa. same is true for extraordinary alien ones.